CHAPTER LIV.

Of the high questions which the well-exercised daughter put to her spiritual father.

AFTER the introduction of the outward into the inward man had taken place in a way conformable to right reason, high thoughts arose in the daughter’s mind, and she inquired whether she might yet venture to ask questions about them. The Servitor replied:—Yes; if thou hast been duly led through the proper intermediate stages, it is quite lawful now for thy spiritual intelligence to ask about high things. Ask what thou wilt. She made answer:—Tell me what is God? and where is God? and how is God?—I mean how He is single and yet three fold?

The Servitor replied:—God knows, these are high questions. As to the first—what is God?—thou must know that all the learned doctors who ever were cannot fully explain it; for God is above all sense and reason. And yet a diligent man, by hard seeking, gains some knowledge of God, though in a very far-off way; and it is in this knowledge that man’s supreme bliss consists. Thus it was that in days of old certain virtuous heathen 281doctors sought after God, especially the intellectual Aristotle. He pried minutely into the course of nature, in order to discover who he is who is the lord of nature. He searched after Him diligently, and found Him. He proved, from the well-ordered course of nature, that there must necessarily be one only prince and lord of all creatures, and that is what we mean by the name God.

Of this God and Lord we know thus much:—that He is a substantial being; that He is everlasting, without before or after; that He is simple and unchangeable; an unembodied and essential Spirit; whose being is to live and work; whose essential reason knows all things in itself and by itself; whose being’s fathom less delight is in itself; and who is to Him self, and to all who shall enjoy Him in the way of contemplation, a supernatural, unspeakable, and entrancing bliss.

The daughter looked upwards and said:—This is good to hear, for it stirs the heart and lifts the soul sursum, on high above itself. Therefore, dear father, tell me more about it.

He answered:—Behold, then. The divine essence, of which it is said that it is a rational substance, of such nature that no mortal eye 282can see it in itself, may nevertheless be discerned in its effects, just as we trace a good craftsman in his works. For, as Paul says, creatures are like a mirror which reflect God. And this mode of gaining knowledge we term reflection (speculiren).

But let us pause here awhile, and reflect upon the high and venerable Master as mirrored in his works. Look above thee and around thee to the four quarters of the universe, and see how wide and high the beautiful heaven is in its swift course, and how nobly its Master has adorned it with the seven planets, each of which, not to reckon in the moon, is much bigger than the whole earth, and how He has decked it with the countless multitude of the bright stars. Oh! when in summer time the beautiful sun bursts forth unclouded and serene, what fruitfulness and blessings it bestows unceasingly upon the earth! See how the leaves and grass shoot up, and the lovely flowers smile; how forest, heath, and meadow ring again with the sweet song of nightingales and other little birds; how all those little creatures, which stern winter had shut up, issue forth rejoicing, and pair together; and how men too, both young and old, entranced with joy, disport themselves 283right merrily. All, gentle God, if Thou art so lovely in Thy creatures, how exceeding beautiful and ravishing Thou must be in Thyself! But look again, I pray thee, and behold the four elements—earth, water, air, and fire, with all the wondrous things which they contain in manifold variety—men, beasts, birds, fishes, and sea-monsters; and mark how they all cry aloud together, Praise and honour be to the unfathomable immensity that is in Thee! Who is it, Lord, that sustains all this? Who feeds it all? It is Thou who providest for all, each in its own way; for great and small, for rich and poor. It is Thou, O God, who doest this. Thou, O God, art God indeed!

Come, daughter, thou hast now found thy God, whom thy heart has so long sought after. Look upwards, then, with sparkling eyes and radiant face and bounding heart, and behold Him and embrace Him with the infinite out stretched arms of thy soul and thy affections, and give thanks and praise to Him, the noble Prince of all creatures. See how, by gazing on this mirror, there springs up speedily, in a soul susceptible of such impressions, an intense in ward jubilee; for by jubilee is meant a joy which no tongue can tell, but which pours itself 284with might through heart and soul. Alas! I feel now within me that, be it painful or pleasant, my soul’s closed mouth is opened to thee, and I must needs tell thee, for God’s glory, somewhat of my hidden secrets, which I never yet have told to any one. See, I knew a friar preacher who, at the beginning of his conversion, used commonly to receive from God twice every day, morning and evening, during ten years, an outpouring of grace like this, and it lasted for about the space of two nocturns.¹⁰¹⁰   About half an hour. At these moments he was so utterly absorbed in God, the Eternal Wisdom, that he could not speak of it. Sometimes he would lovingly converse with God within him, while at other times he would sigh piteously, or weep longingly, or again smile silently. It often seemed to him as if he were floating in the air, and swimming between time and eternity in the deep sea of God’s unfathomable marvellousness. And his heart became so full through this, that he would at times lay his hand upon it, as it beat wildly, saying:—Alas, my heart, how will it fare with thee to-day? One day it seemed to him that the Eternal Father’s heart was, in a spiritual and ineffable manner, pressed tenderly, and with 285naught between them, upon his heart, as it lay open over against the Father’s heart in longing desire, and it appeared to him that the Father’s heart, in a way of love transcending all forms and images, spoke in his heart the uncreated Word, the Eternal Wisdom. Then he began to exclaim joyously in spiritual jubilee:—Be hold now, my loveliest love! thus do I lay bare to Thee my heart, and in simplicity and nakedness with regard to all created things I embrace Thy formless Godhead. Alas, my love! Thou who art far above all other loves! Earthly lovers, however greatly they may love, must needs bear to be distinct and separate from each other; but Thou, O unfathomable fulness of all love, meltest away into Thy beloved’s heart, and, in virtue of Thy being absolutely all in all, pourest Thyself so utterly into the soul’s essence that no part of Thee, the loved One, remains outside, and is not lovingly made one with Thy beloved.

The daughter answered:—Ah, God! what a great grace it is for any one to be thus caught up into God in jubilee. But I would fain know whether this is the most perfect kind of union or not. The Servitor replied:—No; it is only a preliminary preparation for arriving at an 286essential mode of being taken up into God. She answered:—What mean you by essential and non-essential? He replied:—I call him an essential man who, by the good and persevering exercise of all the virtues, has so completely mastered them, that the practice of them in their highest perfection has become pleasant to him, and that they dwell in him abidingly, as the sunshine in the sun. On the other hand, I call him a non-essential man in whom the light of virtue shines in a borrowed, unsteadfast, and imperfect way, as the moonlight in the moon. The sweet abundance of sensible grace which I have just described is such a dainty treat to the spirit of a non-essential man, that he would fain always have it; and as its presence begets in him delight, even so its withdrawal causes in him undue sadness, as I will now show you by an example. It happened once, when the Servitor had gone into the chapter-house, and his heart was full of heavenly jubilee, that the porter came and summoned him to the door to a woman who wanted to confess to him. The Servitor tore himself unwillingly from his interior joys, and, receiving the porter harshly, replied, that the woman must send for some one else, as he would not confess her then. Now 287she had a burdened and sinful heart, and her message was, that she had a particular drawing to seek consolation from him, and that she would confess to no one else. But when she heard that he would not come to her, she began to weep from grief of heart, and going aside into a corner, sat down there in wretchedness, and wept long and bitterly. Meanwhile God with drew very quickly from the Servitor the delights of sensible grace, and his heart became as hard as a flint; and when he sought to know the meaning of this, God answered him:—As thou hast driven from thee uncomforted the poor woman with her burdened heart, even so I have withdrawn from thee My divine consolations. The Servitor sighed deeply and beat his breast, and ran with speed to the door, and, as he did not find the woman there, was in great distress. The porter ran about in every direction looking for her, and when at last he found her, where she was sitting weeping, he brought her back with him to the door, and the Servitor, receiving her with great kindness, graciously consoled her repentant heart. Then he went back from her to the chapter-house, and immediately in an instant the kind Lord was there again with His divine consolations, just as before.

The daughter answered:—He may well bear sufferings to whom God gives such rapturous jubilee. The Servitor replied:—Oh! it had all to be paid for afterwards with great suffering, as has been already related. At length, however, when all this had passed away, and God’s appointed time had come, this same grace of jubilee returned, and was with him in an abiding manner both at home and abroad, in company and when alone. Ofttimes in the bath or at table the same grace was with him; but its working was now interior, and no longer broke forth into exterior manifestations.